The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of Barrow, Alaska, reached 400 parts per million (ppm) this spring, according to NOAA measurements, the first time a monthly average measurement for the greenhouse gas attained the 400 ppm mark in a remote location.

Carbon dioxide (CO2), emitted by fossil fuel combustion and other human activities, is the most significant greenhouse gas contributing to climate change.

“The northern sites in our monitoring network tell us what is coming soon to the globe as a whole,” said Pieter Tans, an atmospheric scientist with NOAA’s Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL) in Boulder, Colo. “We will likely see global average CO2 concentrations reach 400 ppm about 2016.”

Carbon dioxide at six other remote northern sites in NOAA’s international cooperative air sampling network also reached 400 ppm at least once this spring: at a second site in Alaska and others in Canada, Iceland, Finland, Norway, and an island in the North Pacific.

Measurements at all those remote sites reflect background levels of CO2, influenced by long-term human emissions around the world, but not directly by emissions from a nearby population center. At other more locally influenced sites in NOAA’s network, such as Cape May, N.J., upwind cities influence CO2 concentrations, which have exceeded 400 ppm in spring for several years.

On Saturday, May 19th, members of Occupy Well Street and friends blockaded a drill rig move from entering a frack site for 2 hours in rural Lycoming County, PA. This drill rig blockade happened as part of the Day of Action Against Extraction.

As activists blocked the rig from entering the frack site, in order to construct and commence another deadly drill operation, the trucks carrying the rest of the parts of the rig were backed up for hours along State Route 118. After a state trooper announced he supported the right to protest, no arrests were made.

Why did Occupy Well Street and friends blockade the out-of-state truck carrying a drill rig?

Juvenile marbled murrelet on its nest platform high in an old growth Douglas-fir tree. (Tom Hamer photo)

PORTLAND, Ore.— Cascadia Wildlands, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Audubon Society of Portland filed a lawsuit today in federal court charging that the state of Oregon’s clearcutting practices illegally harm threatened marbled murrelets within the Tillamook, Clatsop and Elliott state forests in violation of the Endangered Species Act. The conservation organizations are calling on Gov. John Kitzhaber to develop a plan for state forests that will adequately protect the rare seabirds that spend most of their lives on the ocean but come inland to nest and breed in mature and old-growth forests.

“The state of Oregon is out of touch with the values of Oregonians by ignoring the dire needs of species teetering on the brink of extinction, like marbled murrelets,” said Francis Eatherington, conservation director of Cascadia Wildlands. “Governor Kitzhaber has to step up and call for the development of a long-term, science-based plan for these forests that doesn’t result in an ongoing decline of the imperiled seabird.”

Redwood Coast Rendezvous

A Regional Earth First! RendezvousAugust 2nd-9thLocation: to be announced

We’re inviting all radical forest lovers to the Redwood region to gather, learn techniques in direct action, share skills and music,take action to defend our forests and have a damn good time doing it! If you need some convincing to come out to the Redwood Coast Rendezvous, check out this video: Dancing in the Treetops.

Earth First! Humboldt are also accepting tree sit volunteers for June and July. Help maintain the only tree-sit in the country by learning the art of living a hundred feet off the forest floor in a Redwood Tree! Those interested can contact EF! Humboldt at: contactefhum@gmail.com. With a minimum commitment time, you will learn how to be a safe and functional member of Treetopia – a magical place that needs your help in standing strong!

We have been occupying the canopy in a grove of threatened Redwoods to prevent them from being cut down since February 2009. Timber giant Green Diamond Resource Company wants to clearcut this and thousands more acres of Redwood forest. You are welcome to join us in the tree-tops. Minimum stay is a week. You can also help by spreading information or sending us funds or supplies like climbing rope, carabiners, digital cameras, sleeping bags, waterproof tarps, solar panels, etc. Thanks for your support!

Peruvian riot police clad with helmets and plastic shields charged in to the municipal building in Espinar, Peru on Wednesday to arrest mayor Oscar Mollohuanca in his office for leading a protest against Swiss-based global mining company Xstrata. This is President Ollanta Humala’s latest attempt to end conflicts over natural resources in favor of mining investments. The recent protests against expanding the mining projects in Peru are part of an ongoing struggle and the climate of unrest surges.

Anti-mining protests against the Peruvian government’s latest plan to expand the profits from Xstrata has highlighted Peru’s class divide. In a conflict of interest, thousands of city-dwelling Peruvians who have profited from the violent extraction of resources resulting in a commodities boom in the past decade marched in support of the country’s largest-ever $50 billion mining project on Tuesday. Meanwhile, 60 percent of rural Peruvians are poverty-stricken, and many involved in similar mining projects are injured or dead. Continue reading →